I was going to check myself into a mental hospital after continually pondering on a relatively inexpensive solution to filling the topdressing machines from our dumptrucks. The worst part was that Spring was here & the season was about to go crazy & I wasn't remotely ready. I hadn't taken advantage of the slow time to make the summer any easier. What am I gonna do now?
I had thoroughly considered all the options but each of them just didn't seem plausible & here's just a few that I thought might have some potential:

1. Conveyor bottom insert.
2. Screw conveyor trough for a diagonal slope unload.
3.Cross conveyor.
4. Modified treadmills.
5. Modified Load-Handler unit from a pick-up truck.
6. Hydraulic moving walls.
7. Paddle wheel to discharge compost out like whats on a steam ship or paddle boat.
8. Modified manure spreader bottom.
9. Giant Leaf Vac to suck compost out and blow into machines.
10. Conveyor that rests on top of the pile to push out material.
11. Husqvarna Power Broom to push out compost.
12. Filling five-gallon buckets with loader within truck to just grab and dump to fill machine.
13. Spinning Cow brush to move material out.
14. Post-hole auger to drag compost out.
15. Plate steel panels to create a funnel effect at the back of dumptruck.
16. Modified Schuler feeder wagon.
17. Small tractor with loader. Dump compost from truck and scoop out of road to fill spreaders. (very messy & not real fast but little labor involved, again real messy).
I think you get the point.
Friends & family could only suggest I quit working to get out of work.

I got to a point that I had to focus on something simple.
An automated idea would pop up & I'd repeat these words:
Simple, no. Simple, simple, simple.
Nothing mechanical, automated or complicated.
That's when it came to me & hopefully this season will go much smoother now that a recent brainstorm is working as hoped.

One thing I would add to your ingenious dump truck design would be a couple of angled 2X10's placed on the plywood to channel the material into a 3 foot wide shoot or what ever the width of your top dresser machine would be. Would look to allow for less spillage when Loading.

Is a great thought! I was thinking that i'd add them once I get the vibrator installed so it might act like a shaker table. Not sure if ill want a hinged keyboard drawer door to act as a stop/block for the side that's not in use. Friends & family say stop there cause it works fine while hired help seem to encourage any mods that make the work more efficient. Thanks for writing!Posted via Mobile Device

I was going to check myself into a mental hospital after continually pondering on a relatively inexpensive solution to filling the topdressing machines from our dumptrucks. The worst part was that Spring was here & the season was about to go crazy & I wasn't remotely ready. I hadn't taken advantage of the slow time to make the summer any easier. What am I gonna do now?
I had thoroughly considered all the options but each of them just didn't seem plausible & here's just a few that I thought might have some potential:

1. Conveyor bottom insert.
2. Screw conveyor trough for a diagonal slope unload.
3.Cross conveyor.
4. Modified treadmills.
5. Modified Load-Handler unit from a pick-up truck.
6. Hydraulic moving walls.
7. Paddle wheel to discharge compost out like whats on a steam ship or paddle boat.
8. Modified manure spreader bottom.
9. Giant Leaf Vac to suck compost out and blow into machines.
10. Conveyor that rests on top of the pile to push out material.
11. Husqvarna Power Broom to push out compost.
12. Filling five-gallon buckets with loader within truck to just grab and dump to fill machine.
13. Spinning Cow brush to move material out.
14. Post-hole auger to drag compost out.
15. Plate steel panels to create a funnel effect at the back of dumptruck.
16. Modified Schuler feeder wagon.
17. Small tractor with loader. Dump compost from truck and scoop out of road to fill spreaders. (very messy & not real fast but little labor involved, again real messy).
I think you get the point.
Friends & family could only suggest I quit working to get out of work.

I got to a point that I had to focus on something simple.
An automated idea would pop up & I'd repeat these words:
Simple, no. Simple, simple, simple.
Nothing mechanical, automated or complicated.
That's when it came to me & hopefully this season will go much smoother now that a recent brainstorm is working as hoped.

I you simply welded on a 4' fold down ramp you could copy my setup and have room for two wheel barrows. Right now the helper is just standing around waiting for you to get back to the truck. Then your stuck having to wait for the helper. A lot of wasted time.

If your going to use a helper nothing beats my two wheel barrow method. I'm loaded in ten seconds and back on the lawn.

I have had this idea in my head for the last year and over the winter decided to jump in and do it. I started topdressing last year with great results. The problem I had was getting materials from the trailer to the Turfco F15. I was using the old grain scoop method and by the end of the day my back would be killing me and 2 yards was enough for me.

I decided to build a bin with a conveyor floor to move the materials into the topdresser. I also put in an agitator to break up clots and fluff the material. The bin holds almost 9 cy. The trailer has a 15600 capacity so I can carry about 10k lbs of material.

I plan on adding the Eco Lawn spreader as well. There is room in front of the trailer to carry the Plugger 850 and the Eco Lawn. This should allow me to do 8-10 houses a day by myself without breaking my back.

Here are some pics let me know what you think.

I'm pretty sure I saw Turf Techs setup in Austin yesterday. I think he may have sold it to the "Dillo Dirt Company". I sent him a PM last night to see if this was the case.

I used about 300 yards of top dressing this spring and am done for the season. I had 100% growth this spring after a slow start. I jumped to near the top of the first page of Google organically and got steady phone calls.

The top dressing section on my new website has a lot of content and easily steam rolled a lot of people who competition who were listed higher then me for several years.